The present invention relates to an apparatus for heating stackable dishes.
Various embodiments of plate warmers are known. Some have cabinet-type housings with doors on one or two sides. Plate and cup warmers are also known which have service openings on either side extending over their entire height, which openings can be closed off by hinged flaps. A stack of plates, for example, may be held with both hands and passed through these openings to load or unload the warmer. There are also plate warmers on the market with shaft-like housings of cylindrical or polygonal shapes and with round doors disposed in the center.
A disadvantage of all of these structures is that operating personnel must bend over the apparatus, which stands on the floor, or must bend their knees. Alternatively, if the apparatus stands on a table, at least for taller stacks of dishes, the operating personnel must reach up a substantial distance for loading or unloading the dishes from the apparatus.
Plate stack holding devices are known which comprise springs that are compressed by a stack of plates. When plates are removed, some of the load is removed from the springs, and the springs push the remaining plates upward until equilibrium with the remaining weight is attained. The aim of this spring arrangement is to maintain the top of the stack of plates at approximately a constant level. However, with this type of device, it is not possible to selectively adjust the level. Even plates of the same type have different weights. Therefore, if the device is mounted in a shaft-like housing with an open top, a few plates may extend over the top edge of the opening making it impossible to close off the housing with a cover. In this instance, the plate stack holding device cannot be adapted for use as a plate warmer because the heat loss would be much too great.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for heating stackable tableware dishes whereby these disadvantages are avoided while at the same time the apparatus is convenient to operate and service.
These objects and others of the present invention are achieved with an apparatus including a heatable housing with an open top and a cover adapted to close the open top. A support for a stack of dishes is arranged in the housing and may be selectively raised and lowered by a power-driven mechanism for selectively raising and lowering the support.
Preferably, a second power-driven mechanism is provided for opening and closing, i.e., raising and lowering the cover. Also, an arrangement may be provided whereby the pressing of a pushbutton switch causes the cover to be opened, i.e., raised, whereupon the support can be raised or lowered to a desired height. In this arrangement, a time delay may be provided which is started when the pushbutton is released to cause a drive arrangement to lower the support after a predetermined time interval. This drive arrangement may be disengaged by a sensing arrangement which detects the passage of a top of the stack of dishes on the support down through the upper housing opening. At this point, the cover is automatically closed.